Paul Slayton returns to Willow Glen Middle School, this time as principal

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(Photo by Jacqueline Ramseyer/Bay Area News Group/September 18, 2014)Paul Slayton is the new principal of Willow Glen Middle School, taking over for Shannon McGee. Slayton is a graduate of WGMS and WGHS.

Most people remember their middle school years as difficult, maybe even the most horrible years of their lives. Paul Slayton remembers the difficulties, but that hasn’t stopped him from going back to Willow Glen Middle School, this time as its principal.

“I remember middle school being difficult, especially as a sixth-grader. The eighth-graders were huge. I was afraid of the locker room, afraid I wouldn’t be able to open my locker,” he says. “It’s all helped me understand what it’s like to be a student here. I look for the kids who are terrified. I’ve opened more locks in the past five years than I will for the rest of my life.”

The youthful, extremely enthusiastic and always smiling Slayton has no problem mixing with the students. In fact, he seems to know most of the 1,300 students’ names. He thinks the school seems smaller even though the portables weren’t there when he was a student. This is the fifth year he’s been back at the school.

Slayton has been an educator all his adult life. He formerly worked in mental health with at-risk youth and family therapy as well as teaching for seven years in Fresno and San Diego. He taught AP English and English as a second language for seven years before coming to Willow Glen Middle as an assistant principal for discipline.

His mentor at Willow Glen was principal Shannon McGee, also a former student at the school. “She brought me into administration and coached and worked patiently with me. She still comes and works with me,” Slayton says.

He also gives high praise to the school’s teachers. “I have an amazing faculty. They understand the ages of the students they deal with on a daily basis. If the teacher sends a student out, all is forgotten when the student comes back. Every day is brand new, and these teachers have a short memory,” he adds.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of problems. Teachers come to him when they see students struggling and need a bit of extra help. Together they work to help the kids, and sometimes with the parents, Slayton says.

“Today’s teaching is different, especially with the new Common Core and 21st-century skills. Instead of giving the students all the facts and asking them to work out the problem, our teachers give the kids a problem, like finding out how much sod someone needs to buy to re-landscape their yard,” Slayton says. “It’s higher-order thinking.”

Only two teachers remain from Slayton’s days as a student at the school. One teaches French and the other taught him eighth-grade language arts. But many of the parents went to school with him.

“The parents are great, easy to work with; they call if they are curious. It’s crucial for parents to connect if they are worried, but it also depends on the child. We follow the child’s needs because some parents need to back off and others need to pay more attention,” he says.

Some things haven’t changed at all, he says, noting the RAM Way; Respect all, Achieve best and Make responsible choices. “When the students follow this, there are few to no problems. It’s incredible to watch some kids, especially those who reach out to others or sit down at lunch with someone eating alone.”

While bullying is mentioned often, especially in middle school, as a huge problem, Slayton says bothering is worse. Getting someone’s attention when they are trying to concentrate or trying to talk with others while the teacher is talking is much worse, but that’s the age, he says.

“Students need to learn resilience against both bothering, such as excluding or harassing. But we have different reactions to each of them. Bothering will happen throughout their lives and they need to learn to work around it,” he says.

One problem he doesn’t have is getting parents involved. Parents help with fundraising, he says, through the athletic boosters, the Willow Glen Foundation and the performing arts boosters. That allows the administration and faculty to do what they need to do without worrying about money, Slayton says.

“I hope to be here as long as possible. We’re creating a school where we put the child first; it’s very humbling.”

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